General
The Best Way to Win?
Wake County school bond supporters say the bonds are “the best way to pay.” But is that message enough to win? Bond supporters were smart to hire Democrat Brad Crone and Republican Ballard Everett to run their campaign. Brad ran a smart campaign against school bonds some years ago. His slogan was: “There’s a better…
Read MoreIs Rove’s 72-hour Plan a Myth?
I’m looking forward to this year’s election not just because there will be a Democratic sweep, but also because it will destroy the myth of Karl Rove’s 72-hour voter-turnout machine. While most Republicans expect to lose the House and hold the Senate by only one seat, The Washington Post reports that Bush and Rove are…
Read MoreSchool Bond Prospects No Better
The Wake County school bonds are winning the elites but losing the voters. Supporters have organized an impressive list of business backers. But that has not impressed voters. No poll has shown more than 45 percent of Wake voters supporting the bonds. And the bonds will not pick up undecided voters. That means 45 percent…
Read MorePrice Blasts Bush
Last week Congressman David Price told us the Bush administration’s anti-terrorism strategy has “made matters worse” and “has simply failed to meet the standard of an intelligent anti-terrorism strategy” (News and Observer; 9-29-06). Now, will Congressman Price also tell us his strategy to win the war on terrorism? If he – and his fellow Democrats…
Read MoreA Good Year to be a Democrat
A Republican pollster told me last week that this year’s elections are looking extremely bad for his side and good for mine. Four weeks from today, the world will look very different: Democrats will control both the House and Senate in Washington; They will keep their majorities in both houses of the North Carolina legislature,…
Read MoreAn Odd Thing
People will say just about anything about a politician they disagree with, say, on the war in Iraq. Anyone from the head of the Moral Majority to the Pope is fair game too. But when the Pope, ever so gently, raised the question of the role of violence in Islamic theology all of our free-wheeling…
Read MoreAre You Safer Today?
Ronald Reagan won the presidential debate – and probably the election – by famously asking a simple question in 1980: Is America safer, stronger and more respected in the world today than four years ago? This election bears asking the same question. We know now that North Korea has the bomb. Here is what President…
Read MoreThe TTA, Bus Break Downs and Eminent Domain
Mayor Meeker’s Triangle Transit Authority has been having a bit of trouble with its buses. The TTA runs an express bus everyday from Chapel Hill to Raleigh. According to the News and Observer the bus has been plagued by a series of mechanical failures. The air-conditioning goes out, one morning ten minutes after it left…
Read MoreA Missed Nugget
Here’s a nugget about the lottery trial from the Raleigh Chronicle (9/28/06) and NBC-17. So far, Kevin Geddings’ trial has focused on his failing to disclose his ties to lottery venders. Now NBC-17 reports a member of Governor Easley’s staff was paid cash to set up a meeting with the Governor and representatives of a…
Read MoreWarner’s Warning
Senator John Warner, Virginia Republican, is former Secretary of the Navy, now chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a reliable supporter of Bush’s policies in Iraq. So when he says the situation there is “drifting sideways,” Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice have some explaining to do. I didn’t see Warner’s comments in the…
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